Many k-drama and k-pop stars are discovered in high school. Some go back to school once their careers are established but a few opt to skip out altogether.
On a recent episode of "Healing Camp," IU admitted that she was one of the stars who decided that college was not for her.
She never liked school.
"I thought there would be no more school for me once I graduated from high school, but then I realized there was a place called college," she said.
The singer, who starred in "you're The Best Lee Soon Shin," "Dream High" and "Pretty Man," did not think her below-average grades would get her into college.
"My mentor told me that it is very easy to get into Seoul National University but there were no colleges available for someone with my grades," she said.
She was not terribly disappointed. Since she did not like school that much, she was eager to have her freedom. And she was already singing while she was in high school. Her career has not suffered for the lack of a degree.
IU is not the only k-celeb to have skipped college.
Kim Jaejoong moved to Seoul by himself when he was only 15 to take part in the SM Entertainment auditions. He took odd jobs to pay his rent, including appearing as an extra in movies. Once he became a singer and then an actor, he never looked back.
Bi Rain became an orphan when he was 18 but the same year he signed with JYP Entertainment and started his career. Rain attended an arts high school so he could learn to act and improve his dancing skills but he was reportedly not a model student, being truant on several occasions. Once he began making music and acting, he was never truant again.
Some actors were accepted into college but decided it was not for them. Cha Seung Won, now appearing in "You're All Surrounded" was a student at the prestigious Sungkyunkwan University before he dropped out to pursue acting.
Lee Jin Wook, who will soon appear in "Three Musketeers," was studying environmental engineering when he left Cheongju University.
A few k-drama actors dropped out of school but then went back. Singer-actor Kim Hyun Joong, the star of "Inspiring Generation," dropped out of high school to become a singer, but after his success with the band SS501, he went back and graduated. In 2011, he enrolled in Chungwoon University to study stage production.
Not everyone who gives up college to pursue their dream of becoming a performer will succeed. But in these cases, the singers and actors made the right decision for them.
